The article from Maz Gould explores the rising trend of Gen Z embracing sobriety and choosing to abstain from alcohol.
Dishevelled bartender: “What can I get you?”
Bright-eyed Gen Z: “A virgin piña colada, please.”
Weekend antics no longer revolve around boozing heavily on a Saturday night and waking up fiercely hungover on a Sunday. Now, they’re about taking long walks, cold showers, attending a spot of puppy yoga and maybe, just maybe, sipping on a virgin piña colada or two. Half a decade ago, it wasn’t uncommon to stumble across a headline shaming young adults and their excessive alcohol consumption. In 2023, however, it’s almost impossible to go through an entire week without referencing sobriety, full stop. Whether that’s citing a brand-new alcohol-free launch or discovering your best mate’s gone sober, it’s safe to say excess drinking is a thing of the past. And I haven’t just pulled that out of thin air. According to the charity, Drinkaware, there has actually been a moderate decline in drinking since the peak of binge drinking we all witnessed — and likely took part in — during lockdown.
That’s right, a new wave of drinkers have emerged, and they do things in moderation. Introducing the sober curious drinker. A drinker that hasn’t gone *completely* teetotal, but has decreased their alcohol intake significantly and, more often than not, sits in the Gen Z age bracket. Yes — young people are growing up with a different relationship to alcohol than their millennial predecessors, and it’s one that snubs booze rather than celebrates it.
According to a study published in the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis in 2022, the no/low alcohol category grew by 9% with alcohol-free alternatives actually overtaking low alcohol substitutes. People are either drinking less, or cutting alcohol out of their lives completely. And a large proportion of those spearheading this trend are Gen Zs with an affiliation for health and wellness. (Drinkaware stats report that those most likely to be non-drinkers are aged between 16 and 24).
With that, the drinks landscape has completely shifted. So much so, that we’re even seeing entire pubs dedicated to sober drinkers. You heard me. Lucky Saint — one of the nation’s reigning alcohol-free beer brands — just opened The Lucky Saint, a pub in Marylebone committed to stocking the “best of all non-alc” produce.
A spokesperson for Lucky Saint tells Pinch, “We believe the greatest reward of drinking is the social connection, not the alcohol. Pubs have been at the heart of communities, and alcohol has been at the heart of pubs for centuries. As attitudes towards alcohol change, it’s an opportunity for pubs to evolve.
“Our aim is to keep pubs cemented as the place for social connection whilst building on our mission to inspire the world to drink better.”
All you need to do is take a look at a recent episode of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den to see how this trend for drinking less has hit the mainstream. The episode in question dedicated an entire segment to Quarter, a low-alcohol spirits brand, who were seeking investment in the “world’s first quarter strength gin” which promises to deliver all the flavour and experience you’d expect from a full-strength gin, just with a fraction of the alcohol. Quarter’s founders ended up turning down an offer from one of the show’s business directors, backing themselves and the ever-growing trend for no and low alcoholic alternatives. Not to mention the free PR they just landed from appearing on a TV show, of course.
Even the Mob confirmed this notion of mindful drinking, with 44% of our followers telling us that they’re actively trying to cut down on their alcohol consumption, and 60% revealing that they’re interested in drinking less.
Not too long ago, drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol the minute you reached legal age was considered a rite of passage for many. Seen as a social lubricant, alcohol was encouraged to help you “loosen up.” Big eighteenth birthday bashes crawling with just-about-legal teens itching for their first (lawful) taste of Cherry Sourz, bottomless brunches with the sole aim of drinking the rest of your mates under the table, and whole weekends planned around which bars are offering the best Happy Hour. Now, the curtain has been raised on the negative impact of binge drinking. We’re seeing a surge in young people taking an interest in communities like The Sober Girl Society — a resource for sober drinkers stocked with tips, features and recommendations on how to “bin the gin,” Instagram pages devoted to supporting people’s hangover-free drinking journeys, and multiple self-help books and memoirs dedicated to spotlighting individual’s personal experiences with sobriety.
These types of behaviours aren’t going unnoticed, either. Big brands are jumping on the movement, with the likes of Corona, Heineken and Guinness all introducing 0.0 alternatives over the past two years in a bid to tackle this newfangled interest.
As someone who falls into the Gen Z cohort, I’ve even found myself (someone who has been known to enjoy a tipple or two during the week, and loves a visit to a BYOB) to forgo an alcoholic drink in exchange for a fruity mocktail with the guarantee I’ll wake up hangover-free the following morning. The same can be said for a lot of my friends, too. Sure, we still organise catch-ups over a bottle of vino, but it’s not uncommon for us to plan a wholesome day trip avoiding drink entirely.
So, why are we finding ourselves drinking less? I think the general consensus is that it’s not about abstinence, it’s about making more conscious and mindful decisions when it comes to drinking. Take this year’s Dry Jan figures — over 9 million people participated in the campaign, 25% more than last year. Not just that but a huge 55% of adults in the UK have admitted to wanting to moderate their alcohol consumption in the next 12 months according to Research & Insights Experts, KAM. It’s clear that there’s been a cultural shift and people’s attitudes towards booze have changed. Consumers are, quite simply, seeking out healthier lifestyles and with the cost-of-living crisis, wanting to cut down and spend less on non-essential goods.
What does that mean for the future of the alcoholic drinks sector? Well, a report by the IWSR has already confirmed to us that the total volume of non-alc and low-alc beverages hitting the global market is expected to grow a huge 31% by 2024. We’re seeing more and more no/low-alc adaptations on the daily, each boasting generous followings. Team this with the influx in consumers reaching for things like meal replacements, and you’ve got a generation of young people well on their way to being the healthiest band of consumers to ever populate the planet.